


Gentle Kisses

by S_Snowflake



Category: Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
Genre: Drama & Romance, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Past Sexual Abuse, Sexual Trauma, sexual healing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-06-21 02:33:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15547665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/S_Snowflake/pseuds/S_Snowflake
Summary: Sometimes scars of the past don't fade easily, even when we find new love. Audrey and Seymour are reminded of this the hard way.Post-theatrical cut. Rated for themes of abuse and rape, and lesser so for consensual lovemaking.





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> If you happen to follow me on fanfiction you might recognize this story. Don't skip though. This is a revision/rewrite of a story I posted back in 2011. While I was proud of it then I found it more and more unsatisfying as time went on. Mature fics weren't (and still aren't) my comfort zone, but I feel I've improved with time and that this story needed to be revisited. I hope for this update to be both more brutal and more touching than the first draft. For newcomers to this story I hope that you read the warnings carefully and I promise that Part Two will be happier and hopefully even cathartic.
> 
> I would like to thank everyone who has followed my fanfics over the past ten years (I've been on FF that long). _Little Shop of Horrors_ is the fandom I hold dearest to my heart and it's been great to have other people respond so warmly to my love for it. Special thanks to Laurelizaabeth for her reviews of the original, SubukunoJess for sticking by me all this time, and my recent follower mybabybumblebee for gushing over my entire freaking archive.
> 
> \- S. Snowflake

The latest bought of December snowstorms covered the once-blooming town of Greenville in a deadly layer of white. The cold hadn’t just driven the plants into hiding but the residents as well. One pair of newlyweds on Sunshine Street couldn’t complain; Seymour and Audrey Krelborn simply relished decent heating in a warm, safe home. They’d grown up knowing only poverty, freezing winters, and general despair at this would-be cheery time of year.

Besides, even if the storm turned bitter they could find plenty of warmth with just each other.

On one of these stormy days the couple sat on the twin beds that they’d kept pushed together since their wedding night, sharing kiss number seventeen (eighteen? nineteen?) of the past minute. Briefly Seymour stopped to close the blinds before resuming kiss number… Well, it didn’t really matter.

He helped Audrey untie the sash around her wintergreen dress when she couldn’t fiddle it loose by herself. In return she helped him with the button on his pants. The pattern of removing clothes between kisses continued until the only covering the couple had were haphazard bed sheets.

Audrey rolled Seymour on top of her, taking in not only his gentle eyes but also a mirror of her smiling face reflected in his glasses. He couldn’t help but grin back as he looked down upon her face, framed with flowing blonde locks. Suddenly his smile broke, just a little. He was hesitating. He didn’t quite know why, but he’d often hesitate during these times. Opening his mouth to say something he was suddenly interrupted when Audrey pulled him tighter to her body and reached a hand between them. He began to shudder as she gently, but firmly, stroked him.

“Take it easy, Audrey,” he gasped.

Audrey stifled a giggle as she loosened her grip on him. She still wasn’t used to the pleasure she felt driving her husband crazy like this. Actually she still wasn’t used to feeling much pleasure during intimate times at all. Despite her enthusiasm she could take it easy for him.

 _Take it easy…_

Take it easy… Something about that phrase caught her off guard.

"Wha-what did ya say?”

Seymour still had to catch his breath. “I said ‘take it easy, Audrey.’"

Take it easy. Those three words were echoing in her head and she was starting to remember why. She tried to focus on the present –how tightly she was pressed between the bed and her husband’s body. Maybe a little too tightly.

_Take it easy… Take it easy…_  


* * *  


“Take it easy.”  


Her boyfriend whispered the words in her ear, but Audrey could just barely hear them above the whistling of gas, coursing through a rubber tube that fed into her nose. She tried to move but found herself practically glued to the dentist chair. Her every movement, even just wiggling her fingers, felt sluggish and clammy.  


The laughing gas was a special treat that her boyfriend usually reserved for his own pleasure. She supposed that she’d earned it somehow.  


She sighed. Though she knew it would be painful she just wanted this free nighttime appointment to be over with. As the minutes went on she heard neither the screaming drill nor the clinking of dental instruments. Just the continual flow of gas into her system and her boyfriend’s raspy laughter, slightly muffled by the gas mask he was wearing. If he’d put that thing on then he really had something special in mind for her.  


Then she heard the door close.  


That was strange. He never closed the door during procedures. If anything he enjoyed letting his patients get a preview of their imminent torture, but then again there were no other patients tonight.  


She propped herself up and was able to remove the tube from her nose. She could see her boyfriend reaching to remove his mask, which was foggy with his stale breath. After some effort he succeeded and let out a loud hoot of laughter. Her head spun as he loomed over her, flashing a dark smile.  


“Ya ready?” he asked.  


She answered shakily, “R-ready for wha…”  


Then he pressed his mouth hard against her lips, silencing her. When she didn’t respond as quickly as he wanted, he grabbed the back of her head and forced deeper contact. The chair squeaked as he climbed onto it with her. Sometimes he did this to get a better angle with his antiquated dental tools, but this kiss clearly wasn’t ending anytime soon and his body was starting to smother hers. His pelvis brushed against hers –he was much harder than she expected from a routine night of dental sadism.  


When she finally got the chance to breathe she saw a familiar smirk on her boyfriend’s face. He eyed her body hungrily and ran his tongue against his perfectly white teeth.  


“N-no, Orin! I don’t want…”  


A sudden shard of pain hit her in the stomach. Despite her loopy state she knew that Orin had shoved his knee there, knocking the wind out of her. She had already been seeing spots thanks to the gas but now they clouded the entire room in strange tints and hues.  


“What did you call me?” he snarled.  


She mouthed, “sorry, doctor,” but no sounds came out. He pushed the hem of her dress up to where he wanted it. She didn’t respond to him removing her underwear or his hands kneading her body like clay. The world was fading in and out of focus.  


Then he stood up, momentarily breaking the haze. Her head rolled when she moved but she could still see him as he quickly unzipped his pants. He held his nitrous oxide puff, putting it to his face with one hand while stroking his erection with the other. Seeing him this aroused while she was utterly helpless was terrifying.  


With a last chortle, he put the puffer down on the dental tool stand, pinned her against the chair again, and forced her legs apart.  


“You dirty slut,” he slurred, then rammed into her.  


Audrey winced at the sudden pain. His body was already beginning to crush hers but she wasn’t focusing on that as he set into his familiar, too rough rhythm. Her body began to thump loudly against the firm, cold dental chair with his every thrust.  


As the (minutes? seconds?) moments went on he rocked against her even more violently and she let out the occasional whimper. She knew that he couldn’t hear her above his own heaving and huffing. In the gas-induced fog she reached for the comfort of numbness while Orin continued to force himself further and further into her. Then with a final jolt forward he climaxed, leaving them both heaving in and out struggled breaths until he finally pulled out of her. He then stood apart from the chair and pulled up his pants as if nothing had happened.  


Audrey shut her eyes and turned her head away. She might as well have been a leaking trash bag as sweat, tears, and his warm fluid all flowed out from her at once. Her skin started to prickle in places. She knew that bruises would form later in the spots where she could feel warmth pooling under the skin.  


He audibly took another puff of the nitrous and laughed, causing her body to tense. She knew that when she opened her eyes again he would be looking right at her. Despite her pain and humiliation she pulled together the best fake smile she could.  


Her eyes opened (he was indeed staring at her) and she grinned.  


It must have worked. He wore that same smirk he’d put on when they’d started, and this one came bundled with deep satisfaction.  


“That’s right. You liked it didn’t ya, dirty slut?”  


* * *  


“Ya ready?”  


Audrey was drawn back to the present. Her warm room, the twin beds, and her loving husband were there to greet her.  


“Wha…” She looked into Seymour’s bespectacled eyes.  


He chuckled briefly. “I said, ‘are ya ready?’”  


_“Ya ready?”_  


She blinked. In those glimpses of darkness she saw Orin pinning her to that awful chair.  


“I–”  


Before she could finish the words Seymour kissed her again. She tried to remain calm but her body tensed up. As Seymour’s hands smoothed over normally delightful spots the aching sensation of bruises began to spread. His arms, though gentle, held her down as he nudged her legs apart. Though she told herself it wasn’t real she could feel pain ripping through her lower body.  


No. She wasn’t ready. Just as she’d opened her mouth to say something he kissed her yet again. His lips clung to her mouth as he bucked his hips and entered her.  


“Stop! _Stop!”_  


Seymour felt as though his body went into shock when he realized that Audrey was crying out and pushing against his chest. It took him much longer than it should have, but he untangled from her.  


“Audrey, what’s wrong?”  


She didn’t answer him, but rolled over and buried her face into the comforter.  


“Audrey? What happened? Did I… Oh god! I didn’t hurt you, did I?”  


She still didn’t answer him, but her upper body started to huff and he could hear her making little sobs.  


“Oh no, no, no! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean it! I’d never–”  


“–Stop.” It was just a whimper but he heard her. He watched as she stood up and her tears fell onto the sheets. Finally she looked at him, her eyes pooling. “N-not your fault… it’s… nothin’ to do with you.”  


Then she stood up and wrapped the bathrobe she kept hanging on the bedroom door around her body before leaving the room. Seymour sat on their beds in silence, his mind reeling. Why would she want to stop? She’d been just as eager, if not more eager, to make love than he had in one moment and then was panicking as if she were having a night terror in the next. And he recognized the look on her face from when she’d screamed, or at least he knew he’d seen it before. Yes. It was the night he’d watched her get onto the motorcycle with…  


Suddenly it all made sense.  


He knew she’d be on the couch before he reached the living room. Her face was cupped in her hands when he sat down beside her.  


“It made you think about him, didn’t it?”  


Audrey held back a howl of sorrow. How Seymour could read her mind like that she’d never know but it pained her to think about how he must have felt. Not knowing what to do, she rolled into him and rested her head on his shoulder.  


“S-Seymour?” She was barely able to hold back another round of tears when he looked down at her. “I-I’m sorry. I’m a terrible wife, b-but–”  


“–Hey, don’t talk like that.” Seymour wasn’t one to interrupt but he couldn’t bear to listen to his wife pull herself down further. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, hoping it wasn’t too bold. “It’s okay.”  


Audrey’s guilt only sunk in further with each passing second as he held her tighter. She’d let other men have their way with her before. She’d hid her fear and pain so easily for them. Why not Seymour? He deserved someone who would let him enjoy her body unconditionally.  


And yet…  


“Please don’t make me do that. Not right now. I-I can’t.”  


Seymour felt utterly powerless. He was taken aback at the thought of forcing his wife to do something she didn’t want to do, but he didn’t know what to say. He had to do something to show support.  


Audrey felt Seymour’s breath tickling her ear for a moment before he ever so gently kissed her cheek. She couldn’t help but smile. He still was insecure as a lover and, despite all she’d said to the contrary, she could tell there was a part of him that believed he didn’t satisfy her. That was why his gentle kisses were her favorite. They were genuine.  


The wind rattled the windows and the light began to fade into gray as the two of them sat on the couch together. The rest of their day was shared largely in silence –even dinnertime. That night Audrey fell asleep surprisingly quickly. She held onto the lingering warmth of her husband’s gentle kisses until the unpleasant thoughts and memories loosened their grip for the night.  


Seymour couldn’t find sleep at all, though he tried to fake it in case Audrey woke up. He knew that the last thing she needed was something else to worry about.


	2. Part 2

Shoveling snow had never been Seymour’s favorite task. It had been hard enough to scrape the shop windows and stoop on Skid Row, but when your business was a failure making your store look inviting in the dead of winter was optional. The now daily, walkway-sized task made him oh-so-grateful for the warm cup of cocoa Audrey had preemptively made for him. He slammed the drink down halfway through the hallway, wanting nothing more than to collapse into a toasty bed.

The numbness in his fingers and toes began to subside as he did just that. He closed his eyes, as if he could fall asleep, and stayed that way for a while. At last he dared to open them again and looked out the window.

Damn. The snow was already falling again. He knew he’d have to brave the cold once more to save the window box full of flowers outside. They were Audrey’s favorite flowers.

Audrey… Just thinking of her made him feel warmer in spite of recent events.

He could tell even a week after “the incident” that she was still not feeling well. Her disposition was too upbeat. A frantic drive replaced her joyful glow. She cleaned everything in the house before new dust had even settled, made meals hours in advance, and smiled a toothy grin at him every time she caught his eye. She claimed it was her energy over her New Year’s goals but he knew better.

And he wouldn’t do anything more than kiss or hold her until he knew it was safe again.

Truthfully he wasn’t faring much better than her. He’d close his eyes and imagine them making love only to then see her frightened face or feel her hands pounding against his chest. In his own way he’d hurt her that day, and he couldn’t help but wonder… She’d told him it wasn’t his fault, sure, but that didn’t mean that he _couldn’t_ have hurt her by accident. Not long ago she’d hidden the terrible things that her boyfriend had done to her just to spare his feelings.

But that was then. If he’d hurt her now she’d be honest, right?

On the other end of the practically immaculate tracthouse Audrey was busy cleaning, again. She was growing tired of repeating the same tasks between television shows that couldn’t truly distract her, but with the snow burying all the greenery and roads in town and a fully stocked fridge there was really nothing else to do besides clean.

Well, if she were honest with herself she could think of _one_ more activity that she and her husband could share to consume time, but she’d ruined her chances of that. She couldn’t blame him for keeping his distance. The scene she’d made would be a turnoff for anybody but especially for a sweet, sensitive little guy like Seymour. He’d stuck to one side of their beds since “the incident” and she hadn’t done anything besides kiss or hug him, and only when she knew it was okay to do so.

But she had a plan, of sorts. She’d kiss Seymour a little longer, squeeze him a little tighter, and maybe, just maybe, he’d be up for more than just a cuddle that night.

The feather duster she held shook in her hand. Without thinking about it she found herself putting it down on the kitchen counter and drifting down the hallway. Her heart was starting to pound. Silly girl. She had no reason to be nervous, apart from worrying she’d come across as desperate (which she was). Seymour would see right through that. She rounded the doorway.

“Seymou-oh!”

He was in the doorway too. They’d nearly bumped into each other, standing nose to nose. After a pause they both began to chuckle, her high-pitched laugh drowning out his soft one.

Finally she spoke. “You’re back here. Are ya sleepy, sweetheart?”

“Oh, ya know. It’s just the cold. It takes it out of me, but I’m okay.”

Audrey reacted with a warm smile. Then she leaned in and touched her lips to his. It was less of a kiss than an indication of what she wanted. Hoping for the best, she pressed her lips harder against Seymour’s and impulsively wrapped her arms around his neck.

The thought of how they needed more time tugged at the back of Seymour’s mind, but it was hard to listen to it when the most beautiful woman in the world was holding him so closely that he could feel her heart thudding against his chest. His heart began to race along with hers. Between puckers she made those soft little sighs that excited him so.

It hit him then. He was excited and she was holding him tightly… _Way to go, Seymour ol’ boy._ He backed out of the kiss a little.

“I–I’m sorry,” he stammered.

“For what?”

He didn’t answer with words, instead glancing down at his pants.

Audrey was puzzled at first but she chuckled when she understood. She didn’t know why Seymour was so embarrassed by his arousal but his shyness was, as always, endearing to her. It made her wonder if he’d been holding back for her, too. She drove back in for another kiss, slowly walking him backward toward the beds step by step.

Seymour was dizzy with elation –lost to her lips continually caressing his and their careful steps, almost like a little dance. She wanted this. It was okay to reach behind her, sifting his hands at first through soft blonde hair before finding the zipper on the back of her dress. He tugged it down its track and was just beginning to pull at her sleeves when the something –his trademark hesitation– filled him.

This time he wouldn’t let it go. Not even when she reached the rim of his pants and un-tucked his button-up.

“Audrey, are you sure you want to–”

He was stopped by her lips latching onto his once more. Her adventurous hands, moving lower and lower, turned his knees and stomach into jelly.

“Oh Seymour, sweetheart, you don’t have to–”

_“Stop!”_

Audrey practically leaped backward. She could count on one hand how many times she had heard Seymour raise his voice like that, and it had never been to her. He struggled to breathe, his face turning red. She’d done something wrong again; of course she had. Tentatively she reached out to touch him.

Seymour jerked away from her touch, though he regretted it immediately. He knew she’d be distraught before he dared to look up at her.

“I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “I just –I don’t want to hurt you. Not again.”

“What?”

Seymour took a deep breath, looking his wife in the eye. Yep. She was definitely upset. “I –last week, I thought… _Did_ I hurt you?”

At first Audrey didn’t understand. Seymour’s question seemed to have come out of nowhere. She tried to remember the previous week’s incident, even though it was painful to think about.

Painful. Her jaw dropped when she realized what he’d been thinking. He started to stammer to fill the silence before she dove in to hug him tightly. “No, no,” she mouthed into his shoulder. “You didn’t hurt me.”

Seymour immediately felt as though a weight was lifted from his shoulders and he wrapped his arms around her slim waist. It would have been a perfect moment had it not been for Audrey’s warm tears soaking into his shirt.

“It-it’s my fault,” she squeaked.

“What?” He loosened his arms to look at her face. Her eyes were more than a little watery.

“If I’d just let you… I mean, that’s what a good wife is s’posed to do…”

“–Hey, I told ya not to talk like that.” Seymour leaned in and kissed her forehead. “Audrey, you’re the most wonderful wife anyone could ask for, and it’s not because a’ that. A-and, if you ever need me to stop or need more time before, or… whatever you need, just tell me and I will. I promise.”

Audrey found herself beaming at Seymour as she dried her eyes. For so long she had held the expectations of what men who never cared what she wanted behind a tightly locked door in her head, and Seymour had helped to open that door for the first time. Freed of a burden she hadn’t truly known was there, she knew exactly what she wanted that day.

She kept her eyes locked on his as she detached from him and slowly sat on one half of their beds. A hybrid of a sigh and a chortle bubbled out of her throat as she patted the spot beside her. “If you want t–”

She didn’t get to finish her thought. Seymour practically leaped to her side, sending her tilting sideways. He just barely caught her and quickly pulled her back up, which in turn caused her to bump right into his chest. They laughed together between bursts of kisses.

Little by little buttons were unsnapped, zippers were tugged, and fabric was pulled away. When they were both down to only their undergarments Seymour reached behind Audrey’s back to unsnap her bra –something he had only recently learned to do without her help. More than pleased by his newfound skill, she lay back, letting it fall to join other discarded layers around her.

Seymour looked down upon her and was lost in the rise and fall of her chest. His mouth traced first her breasts before drifting lower and lower down her body. Butterflies started to flutter in her stomach before she felt him tugging her panties down her legs. By the time they were at knee level her entire body was shaking.

She was just shucking her underwear off her feet when she felt Seymour’s mouth once more at her most sensitive place. More shivers and tickles shuffled up and down her spine as his lips caressed her there. She knew that she would reach her edge too quickly if he continued and she gently nudged him with the side of her leg.

Seymour looked up and smiled knowingly at his wife. Lining up his body with hers he kissed her mouth as her hands traced his lower back. She tugged his boxers partway down before he broke away from her lips to finish the job.

Audrey giggled with glee when she saw that her husband was even more excited than she’d thought and she reached out her hand. Her fingers had barely traced the sensitive skin of his arousal when he backed out of her touch.

“Audrey, I… I’m ready,” he said in explanation.

She sighed happily and shifted her body further underneath his, wrapping her legs around him. Seymour adjusted his position too –their bodies touching in all the right places. Deep breath.

“You’ll tell me to stop if you need me to, right?”

Her green eyes were sparkling. “–Sure.”

“Okay.” He planted one more kiss on her soft lips, then eased into her.

Audrey hitched her breath and smiled against his lips. Seymour let them both adjust for a moment before withdrawing a little. A moan escaped his mouth as he pushed back into place, and as he continued he could hear those soft sighs he loved so much once again. Listening to her pleasure helped him to build a gentle rhythm, driving himself only a little deeper if he could as he continually thrust and withdrew.

Upon one slightly stronger thrust, Audrey squeaked sharply. His concentration broke as he scanned her face for any indication of pain.

“You okay?” The words stumbled out as a breath.

Audrey quickly gripped behind her husband’s neck and pulled him toward her, crashing her lips to his. “Oh Seymour, I–I feel so good, but–” She needed a moment to catch her breath. “–Any chance you can go… fasta?”

He withdrew almost completely from her. “I don’t wanna hurt you, or…”

“Shh.” Quickly she put a finger to his lips. “No more. I know… you’d neva’ hurt me… darling.”

Seymour gazed into her face, so trusting and contented, and he suddenly felt very much at home. They’d been together in their little house all week, but his heart had no place to live without moments like this. At last he collided with her again, causing them both to gasp.

They moved together, faster and faster, until talking at all became an impossible prospect. Enraptured as he was in this moment a thought suddenly occurred to Seymour. They hadn’t closed the blinds. He tried to tell himself that it didn’t matter. No neighbors would peep over the hedge in this storm, and why would they in the first place? Nevertheless he glanced out the window.

The snow was falling, just as it had been before they’d started. He had to admit it looked beautiful when he was so caught up in Audrey… Wait. He should have been looking at her! When he snapped his head back to her face he couldn’t help but smile again.

She, too, was watching the snow silently falling on the flowers outside. In the most intimate of splendor she imagined that the sky was crying snowflakes like tears of relief. Just as she had found this strange, beautiful state of mind Audrey emitted a pleased cry and reached her edge. Seymour’s own release followed after. He had to catch himself on his elbows to keep from collapsing onto her.

They breathed slowly but heavily, their bodies still pressed together. Their eyes were still on the snowstorm outside while the waves of leftover pleasure lapped over them.

At last Audrey broke the silence. “Oh Seymour…”

Seymour looked down and just about melted when he saw his wife’s lovely face smiling up at him. “Audrey…” His lips met hers then quickly, but tenderly.

She sighed again, almost musically. “That was…” She stopped, out of wind and words, and never finished that thought. Not that Seymour ever needed words to know how she felt.

He chuckled. “–Yeah.”

Audrey continued to sigh and hum in Seymour’s arms while he kissed her cheek, again and again. Without any memories or pain for them to drive away she could truly savor those gentle kisses.

After a while Seymour carefully rolled them both to the side, keeping his arms around her as they bundled up into the blankets. He yawned, and the last thing he saw before falling into a midday snooze was his angel giving him that absolutely trusting smile. On the cusp of sleep herself Audrey looked out at the snow once more and imagined their future –one in which the nightmares would be kept at bay in favor of happier surprises.


End file.
